LOS ANGELES — Perhaps it’s fitting that this week the Rams return to Arizona. State Farm Stadium was the site of their highest high last season, a smackdown of the Vikings to open the playoffs, but also their lowest low in a 31-point loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
So much went into that Week 2 debacle, from an endless line of injuries to superhuman performances by the home team. But as memorable as it was for the outlier nature of it, it was also significant in how the Rams – duct-taped together as they were – bounced back the next week for their first win of the season.
“Those are one of those days that was challenging, but I’ve always loved the resolve and the responses of this group,” head coach Sean McVay said. “That’s all we can control.”
The Rams (9-3) will try to take that same approach into this weekend’s return trip to Arizona to face the Cardinals (3-9).
Their six-game winning streak ended last week in a 31-28 defeat to the Carolina Panthers. Three turnovers, two costly fourth-down conversions allowed and roller skates on run defense proved to be the difference, and all factors were out of character for who the Rams have been for much of this season.
As the Rams enter the final month of the regular season, there’s no time to allow things to snowball. Tiebreakers separate them from being the NFC’s top seed and from being in the thick of a heated competition for wild-card spots.
While that could be the difference between a home playoff game, going on the road for the postseason or even a first-round bye, McVay said that type of thinking hasn’t crossed his mind.
“We have no guarantee to play past 17 games,” McVay said. “Our goal is to try to prepare to get the result we want, week in and week out. Those other things take care of themselves. That is not in the least bit of my concern. I want us to get back to playing the better quality football that we’ve been accustomed to seeing that we didn’t do the other day.”
That starts against the Cardinals, whom despite their record are to be taken seriously. As if the Rams needed a reminder after how their last road game against this team went.
Arizona has lost nine of its last 10 games, but seven of those losses have been by four or fewer points. This despite playing with a revolving door at running back, and without starting quarterback Kyler Murray, who has missed the last seven games and won’t return this season because of a foot injury.
In his place, journeyman Jacoby Brissett has flourished. The 32-year-old has thrown 13 touchdowns to four interceptions while completing 67.6% of his passes. And he’s gotten the Cardinals’ best pass catcher, tight end Trey McBride, involved in a more prolific way.
In Brissett’s seven games, McBride is averaging 8.4 catches for 86.3 yards and has caught seven touchdowns, compared to five in his 38 career games with Murray under center.
“He’ll stand tall in the pocket, he’ll move around, he can still buy time with his legs and he can activate all parts of the field,” McVay said of Brissett. “Doing an excellent job of getting a lot of different people involved and they’re pushing the ball. He poses a lot of problems.”
But the biggest thing for the Rams will be making sure that their mistakes from a week ago don’t repeat themselves. They’ve been good at that this season, without consecutive losses 12 games into the season.
That’s part of the learning curve this team has been on these last 2.5 seasons after veterans were replaced by rookies who have grown into veterans through the trials of two slow starts in 2023 and 2024 followed by two playoff appearances, a group now characterized not by growing pains but by resilience.
“I think that comes through experience,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “You get into the league … every experience is so new to you. When you get to a couple of years and a couple of games under your belt, you start to understand this thing keeps moving. This train keeps moving.
“You have to make sure that you put the last one to bed, figure out how you can be better, go out there and attack the next week. I think our guys are doing a really good job of that.”
RAMS (9-3) at ARIZONA CARDINALS (3-9)
When: 1:25 p.m. PT Sunday
Where: State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
TV/Radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 381, 225